UPDATE: Most electricity restored in mid-Michigan

Three pockets of homes without power remain in mid-Michigan and fewer than 20,000 Consumers Energy customers are still without electricity this morning, officials said.

That’s down form a peak of 110,000 homes and businesses that lost power beginning late Monday and into Tuesday.

Consumers Energy crews and contract workers continued their work through the night. As of 4 a.m., less than 20,000 customers remained without power. Consumers Energy is working to restore power to all affected customers by 11:30 p.m.

“Our crews continue to make good progress following this December storm, and we appreciate the patience of customers as we complete work to restore power safely today,” said Guy Packard, Consumers Energy’s vice president of electric operations. “We encourage the public to take actions to stay safe and warm, and look out for loved ones, friends and neighbors who still may be without power.”

As winds picked up early Tuesday morning – gusting as high as 50 miles per hour at times – emergency crews responded to downed trees and power lines across mid-Michigan causing power outages, traffic snarls and more issues.

By 8 a.m., more than 80,000 customers across Michigan were without power as the National Weather Service issued a wind advisory through 7 p.m. from Ludington through the middle of the lower peninsula including Isabella, Clare and Gratiot Counties.

Tuesday afternoon, about half of the outages had been restored as Consumers had over 1,200 employees and contract crews working through the day including some in Isabella in Clare County.

Meanwhile, Tuesday morning’s winds kept first responders busy as downed trees and high winds sent Gratiot County Sheriff’s deputies to multiple calls.

At least one non-injury crash was reported when a car hit a tree limb in a roadway before dawn and two semi-trucks were blown over on U.S. 127 causing problems, said Gratiot County Sheriff Doug Wright.

“We kept our midnight shift over as the calls picked up in the early morning,” Wright said.

At 2:04 p.m. Tuesday, St. Louis officials reported the winds had knocked down a power line, causing an outage for homes that are south of M-46 and east of Main Street.

Crews worked to repair the power line.

Isabella County Central Dispatch urged caution to drivers Tuesday morning as downed trees and dark signals reports rolled in, including the lights and M-20 and Winn and at M-20 and Coleman Road.

“Please approach the intersection with caution, and yield to the right of way,” ICCD wrote on its Facebook page.

Temperatures in the mid-40s Tuesday are expected to drop to 31 by 5 p.m. with a slight chance of snow through the overnight in mid-Michigan, according the latest forecast from the NWS.